Actress Raveena Tandon has lifted the curtain on the punishing work culture that top Bollywood actresses navigated in the 1990s, revealing that she and actress Karisma Kapoor routinely shot across six different production sets in a single day — sometimes losing track of which character they were playing. The candid exchange took place on the semi-finale episode of Sony Entertainment Television's India's Best Dancer Season 5, where Raveena appeared as a special guest alongside judge Karisma.

The 36-Hours-in-24 Grind

Reflecting on the era's relentless pace, Raveena Tandon recalled that only two actresses consistently operated on that superhuman schedule. “90s mein I think do hi heroines thi jo literally 24 ghante mein 36 ghante kaam karte the. Ek Lolo ji hain aur ek main hoon,” she said, translating to: ‘In the 90s, I think there were only two actresses who literally worked 36 hours in a 24-hour day. One was Lolo ji and the other was me.’

She described a day that moved in fragments: two hours at one location, one and a half hours at another, three hours at a third, and four hours at a fourth. “Hume pata bhi nahi ki hum kaunse character mein hain,” she admitted — ‘At times, we didn’t even know which character we were playing.’ Beyond a threshold, she said, they would simply do whatever they were directed on set, regardless of the role.

Karisma Kapoor's Film City Secret

Karisma Kapoor, seated as a judge on the show, added her own behind-the-scenes detail. She revealed that much of this frantic multi-set routine played out within Film City, Mumbai, where both actresses would begin shooting as early as 7 am. “We would constantly cross paths with each other, rushing from one set to another, changing our clothes and then heading straight to the next set,” she said, recounting the day-long relay that defined their schedules.

Notably, the two actresses would physically pass each other mid-commute — one arriving at a set as the other was leaving — a detail that underlines just how compressed the timelines were.

What the Anecdote Reveals About 1990s Bollywood

The conversation offers rare first-person testimony about a production era when lead actresses were expected to move between multiple simultaneous projects with minimal turnaround. There were no structured call-sheet systems of the kind that govern contemporary productions. As Raveena pointedly noted, the concept of a ‘rich spoiled brat’ star simply did not exist — the same demanding role was replicated across all six sets.

This comes amid broader conversations in the Hindi film industry about working conditions, actor welfare, and the professionalisation of production schedules — debates that have grown louder in recent years as streaming platforms have brought structured contracts into sharper focus.

About the Episode

India's Best Dancer Season 5 aired its semi-finale across 19 and 20 September 2025 on Sony Entertainment Television. The episode was framed around nostalgia, with Raveena's appearance prompting an extended on-air reunion between the two actresses and a candid look back at the decade that shaped their careers.

With both Raveena and Karisma remaining active in Indian entertainment — and the 1990s nostalgia cycle at peak momentum — conversations like these are likely to draw sustained audience interest well beyond the broadcast window.